TL;DR
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A study published in Frontiers in Aging found unusually high late-life survival among women in Bolotana, Sardinia. Researchers estimate that 13.8% of women there who reach 70 live to 100, but the study does not establish what causes the pattern or conclusively settle the village’s status as a blue zone.
A study of historical records from Bolotana, Sardinia, found that women who reach age 70 there are estimated to have a 13.8% chance of living to 100—higher than the study’s estimates for Italy and the United States. The researchers say the village may be a newly identified longevity hotspot, but their findings describe a survival pattern and do not establish its cause.
Published in Frontiers in Aging, the study examined demographic records for the village, which has about 2,300 residents. Researchers reconstructed life histories using civil documents and church archives, comparing birth, death and baptismal records to check ages. They assessed two measures: life expectancy at age 70 and the probability of surviving from 70 to 100.
The team estimated that 13.8% of Bolotana women who reach 70 will live to 100. The comparable estimates were about 3.5% for women in Italy and 3.6% for women in the United States. These figures refer to the chance of reaching 100 after reaching age 70, not the share of all residents who become centenarians.
The study documented 38 centenarians among 3,060 people born in Bolotana between 1900 and 1925. The researchers also reported that six people aged 100 or older were living in the village in 2024, a concentration they estimated to be roughly 11 times the U.S. rate. That comparison concerns the prevalence of centenarians in 2024; it is distinct from the study’s age-70 survival estimates.
Why Bolotana’s Records Matter
The findings offer researchers a chance to study exceptional longevity using records that the study authors say allow ages to be independently checked. Accurate age validation matters because estimates of extreme old age can be affected by incomplete or mistaken records. The team says it matched multiple sources, including municipal and baptismal documents, to verify ages.
Bolotana’s pattern may also add a different dimension to research on Sardinian longevity. The island’s previously identified longevity area is known for unusually high male longevity; in this study, women in Bolotana were the standout group. Researchers estimated that women who reached 70 had nearly 21 additional years of life expectancy. They ranked second only to Hong Kong on the international benchmarks cited in the report. Such rankings depend on the study’s measures and comparison data, and do not mean the village has been shown to have the world’s longest-lived population.
Identifying a community with unusually strong later-life survival can help guide further research into social, environmental and biological influences on aging. It does not show that copying any one feature of village life will extend an individual’s lifespan.
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How the Village Came to Researchers’ Attention
Bolotana is in the mountainous interior of Sardinia. The researchers’ interest grew from the village’s reported concentration of centenarians, including the six people aged 100 or older recorded as living there in 2024. They then used archival records to look beyond a snapshot and examine survival across generations.
“Blue zone” is a term used for places associated with unusually long lives compared with surrounding populations. Sardinia already has a long-standing place in longevity research, alongside communities such as Okinawa in Japan and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. The current study proposes Bolotana as a possible additional example; its title asks whether it is a new blue zone rather than treating that designation as settled.
Study co-author S. Jay Olshansky, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, pointed to the village’s historical documentation. “What makes Bolotana extraordinary is that it has an incredible historical record that allows us to definitively evaluate ages at birth and death,” he said.
““The municipal and baptismal records date back centuries and allowed us to independently verify ages.””
— S. Jay Olshansky, study co-author and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health
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What the Survival Pattern Cannot Explain
The study establishes an unusual pattern in the records it analyzed, but it does not determine why Bolotana women survive to advanced ages at these rates. Olshansky said possible contributors include diet, physical activity, family support, social connection and genetics. The report describes local food production, walking on steep streets and close family ties as clues for future study, not demonstrated causes.
The findings also do not show that every resident benefits equally, or that the estimates will hold for other populations or future generations. The available report does not provide enough detail to assess every limitation of the underlying records, statistical uncertainty around the estimates or how the results might change with further analysis. The researchers’ proposal that Bolotana may be a blue zone remains a research interpretation rather than a settled designation.
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Further Study of Local Longevity
The immediate next step is further research into the factors that might account for Bolotana’s late-life survival, including how social conditions, activity, diet and genetics may interact. The study itself does not report a follow-up timetable or a specific next investigation.
Readers should treat the village’s lifestyle features as research leads, not personal health prescriptions. The central finding for now is the documented difference in survival estimates among women who reach 70; what produces that difference, and whether it can be applied elsewhere, remains open.
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Key Questions
What did the Bolotana study find?
Researchers estimated that 13.8% of women in Bolotana who reach age 70 will live to 100. Their estimates were about 3.5% for women in Italy and 3.6% for women in the United States.
Does the study prove Bolotana is a blue zone?
No. The researchers say the village may represent a newly identified blue zone. The study documents unusual late-life survival, but the designation is presented as a possibility, not a conclusive finding.
Why do researchers say the age records are reliable?
The team compared birth, death and baptismal records from municipal and church archives to verify ages. Olshansky said this process allowed the researchers to validate the ages of people who reached 100.
What might explain the longevity in Bolotana?
The study does not identify a cause. Researchers named diet, walking and other physical activity, family support, social connection and genetics as possible factors for further investigation.
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